What a Year Can Do
by Nyita7
Summary: Danny Phantom's been in the ghost zone for 12 months, only to find that when he finally escapes, the school is on the lookout and ready to hunt ghosts, believing them to be the cause of Danny's disapearance...
1. Back Again

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Chapter 1

Back Again

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12 months. A whole year. Danny couldn't believe he'd been away at that camp for that long, couldn't believe that he'd been acting as a slave, while no-one, not even his best friends, knew where he had gone.

_What will I say_? He thought, ascending the steps of Casper High. Funny how much they had changed in the past year. Still tacky, cracks full of gum, dirt, and god knows what else, worn smooth by years of kids trampling up and down. But they had a strange air to them, something that made Danny think: _they're not welcoming you anymore_…

_No. Stupid thought!_

_Fine. Be that way, Slave boy._

_I'm not a slave boy._

_It's what you've been for the past year._

_It's not me anymore. I-It was never, I-_

_Well, I guess you're counting your blessings on this one, huh?_

_What do you mean?_

_I mean that they don't know where you've been. They don't know what that crazy ghost boy's done. They don't want to know, I'll bet-_

_Shut up! I haven't done anything wrong. And I'm not crazy!_

_Sure. Whatever. And talking to your own head isn't ANY indication of anything whatsoever-_

_SHUT UP! I mean it, stop._

_Whatever._

Danny shook his head a few times to clear it, and then inhaled slowly, breathing out a small '_ffooo_' sound as he exhaled.

He put his hand on the solid grey bar on the door. Rust was creeping around the base of it, making his grip firm and rough. He sighed. _Why am I so uneasy_?

The fifteen year old boy pushed at the door, wincing slightly as the loud and long '_creeeaak_' sound echoed in the grimy halls, empty of students. But they were there. In class. Waiting? No, they probably had no idea. Wait- _definitely_ was more like it.

Danny stepped onto the plain, speckled tiles, and walked along the corridor, tracing a familiar path to Homeroom. He delved into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, streaked with almost transparent lines.

_Room 193- Ian Lancer- 9:05 a.m._

Briefly glancing at the sheet, he strode down the hall, this time feeling more at ease. It was as though the gloomy school was awakening to him, revitalising him.

_Wow. Never thought I'd feel refreshed in school!_

_You'll never make it in there, you know._

_What do you mean? I registered- this morning._

_Jeez, dude, your parents don't even know about that. You came back YESTERDAY. Your parents, your sister and even your __**friends**__ don't know it yet._

_I-I'm making a mistake, aren't I?_

_You've__** just**__ realised, huh?_

Danny stopped short, his hand reaching out for the door handle of the door he had, subconsciously, reached. He gulped, sweat beads forming over his brows. Danny ran a hand through his hair. Then he willed himself to knock.

A familiar bark-voice reached Danny's ears.

"Manson! Get the door, you're the closest. And be sure to scan it, with the- er- Ecto-Reveal-O. We have to- ahem- abide by the rules, after all." He sighed grumpily.

Danny's heartbeat skipped- twice. The first time, it had jumped in shock because of the name- Manson- for it meant that Sam was in the class. The second time, it had jumped in fear. _Scan? Ecto-Reveal-O? Why does that sound like a name my Dad would come up with? What is Lancer talking about?_

Before he had time to think, he heard a scuffle, and a grunt as somebody- a girl- picked up something. Then a mutter, loud enough to be heard by the class. "Why do we need this, anyway? It's not there are any ghosts in the school."

"Yeah!" piped up a voice. "I mean, not since Danny Phantom disappeared."

"Not in the _school_, anyway, mumbled Sam quietly, this time only heard by Danny. Then something banged up against the door. It seemed to slide down, quickly, then Danny heard a flick, like a switch turned on- or off- then the object was slammed onto a desk. Danny had to smile. What a temper.

"Samantha, please take your seat."

"One moment, Mr. Lancer. I have to see the results."

"Hurry up. We're expecting a new student."

At the mention of those words, Danny gripped the door handle.

It was at that second that a shrill, successive beeping started from inside the room.

A red light flashed in the hall.


	2. Old scars

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Disclaimer: I don't own DP

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Hi! I got great reviews for this story!!! I can't believe it, this story was fun to write but I was at such a writer's block that I had to stop it earlier than I'd intended. Should I just add more to this one next time or another chapter, for less confusion? I need ideas, though!!!!

Anyways, on with my fic...

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**What A Year Can Do**

**Chapter 2**

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Danny whipped his head around, startled. Above each door in the hall was a red beacon, flashing continuously, and the halls were bathed in a moving, eerie glow.

He heard a strangled gasp from inside the room.

"Mr. Lancer, it says there's a ghost in the building! _Outside the door!_"

"_What?_"

Danny was stunned. A part of him, each individual nerve there, was screaming to let go of the handle, but a bigger part was keep the hand affixed.

He heard shouts burst out from each room, now.

"Ghost attack!"

"They're gonna kill us to death!"

"I-I don't believe in ghosts! It's probably… a science experiment…"

"_Phantom's back!_"

That last comment made Danny wrench his hand off of the door, and start backing away. But it was too late.

A waterfall of ectoplasmic rain burst over each class' door, and streamed to the ground. The droplets melted together instantly, and became a shield. A glowing, green, vibrating shield.

In front of Danny, the same thing was happening. The shield was forming in front of his very eyes, and almost immediately the class' voices were muffled.

The PA system crackled to life, and a recorded byte of Jack Fenton's powerful voice streamed out of it.

"Everybody remain calm. Stay in the room you are in. We will be coming immediately to deal with this ghost."

There was a terribly obvious change in Jack's voice, and Danny felt his stomach drop down about five more inches. He was laden with guilt. His dad seemed so… different. No long happy, fun-loving, and slightly crazy… in a good way. He was much more serious. In fact, the strongest thought running through Danny's head was, "_That announcement actually made __**sense**__…_" Danny's guilt throbbed, again. Did he do this to him?

He didn't have time to think about it anymore when a squeal of breaks sounded from outside the school. _The van_, he thought instantly. _I gotta get out of here_!

All the power that had seemed to seep out of his muscles whipped right back in, as Danny heard the slam of the main door opening, and slamming against the wall. After teetering backwards onto his foot and swivelling around for a few seconds, he whipped down the hall, amazed at this newfound adrenaline rush. But apart from the hot power now rushing through him, Danny felt another rush: fear. Would his parents hurt him? Would they accept him back?

_You worry too much._

_I told you before, SHUT UP!_

_I'm not going to. This is highly entertaining._

_How's that? I thought you're me. And I don't think that!_

_Indeed, Phantom. But lets face it: An missing boy, presumed dead, shows up at his high school a year after he disappeared, only having to be chased out by his loving, heartbroken parents? Sounds pretty entertaining to me._

Danny slowed down. Would he really throw away all he'd been planning up to that point, to run away? He felt that the voice was repeating the facts that he'd neglected to think of.

No. Not neglected. He didn't _want_ to think about them.

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Jazz stared at the cracks on her ceiling. Her gaze meandered past the pretty carved lamp hanging from it, and wandered around the edges of the blank square, where fluffy splotches of pink paint had escaped the new, fresh white coat. She had painted it recently, maybe less than a year ago, to hide old scars. It helped, a little.

A little.

She lifted her hand up to her head as if to brush back straying hair, but instead wiped away forming bubbles of tears from her now closed eyes. She didn't want to think about Danny, but as each day went by, she was becoming more and more doubtful of the fact that he would actually return. Jazz could remember the day he had gone like it was yesterday…

_Swirling clouds matched the anger of the flashes that erupted from the base of them, attacking the town below. The school seemed to be swaying; a couple of times Jazz was sure that her desk was moving to the side and she had to push it back to its proper position. The windows were being battered with lead-like rain._

_Through the windows, Jazz saw a strange cloud formation- it could have been a very irregular thundercloud… except that it was glowing green. She scraped back her seat to look at the windows, ignoring the sharp call of the teacher. She was entranced by the eyes of the ghost -for that was what it was- an iridescent, pulsing fiery-orange… swirling… she felt herself sinking into the ominous gaze… then, suddenly, another flash, behind her, broke the spell._

_She whipped her head around to look at the boy who had come up- and saw her little brother, Danny, as a ghost. He shot a blast at the cloud-creature through the window, shattering it instantly. Cold air blew over the people in the room, freezing rain spattering onto the floor. Jazz looked up to see Danny in fierce combat with the ghost, and heard behind her chairs being pushed back hurriedly, the occupants hastily backing up into the walls and scrambling for the door. Even the teacher followed, gulping for air as though what she already had wasn't enough. Everyone was out in a flash of green energy._

_Not Jazz. She couldn't move, again entranced by what was in front of her. Danny and the ghost were sharing green bolts of energy, daring each other to fire the last. She watched, stunned, as her little ghost boy-brother formed a rope out of his powerful green ectoplasm, and lassoed the Evil ghost around the neck. She gasped, as the ghost then retaliated by conjuring a ball of throbbing red power and throwing it, baseball-like, toward Danny. He was pushed backwards, and sent soaring through the room. He phased through the back wall just in time, arms at his sides and legs splayed out in front of him._

_Then the cloud turned its makeshift head toward her, eyeballs wide and, by now, a deep blood red. It hissed, and reached out one of its whirlwind arms, grabbing at Jazz's waist. She felt herself lifted up effortlessly, saw the ghost bare its ragged teeth, which were hung haphazardly in the huge mouth space, and turn toward the window it had come through. It let little whirls of dust escape, making it smaller so it could get through more easily._

_Jazz shut her eyes tightly, feeling the blood beating quickly in her eyelids, much too quickly, her heartbeat skipping the beats every few seconds. She tried to scream, and after the first few strangled cries she let out a blood-curdling holler. The still-monster of a ghost barely flinched._

_Then, there was an immense crash at the back of the room. The ghost turned around, confused, and then had barely time to form a surprised face when a small yet powerful fist, laden with layers of ectoplasmic energy, collided with his face. Releasing Jazz immediately, the ghost smashed through three tall windows, into the front of the school. Jazz fell through the air, but Danny caught her and set her on the ground._

_"The Fenton thermos…" was all Jazz could choke out. Danny shook his head, eyes wide._

_"I-I don't have it!" was her little brother's strangled reply. "Me a-and Sam and Tuck were practicing fighting, and we-we left it in the basement!"_

_Jazz's eyes grew wide in turn, and she had just opened her mouth to say something when a force collided with her head, and she felt herself flying through the air, and landing, whacking her head on a desk. The last thing she remembered was a voice:_

_"We have come for you, Phantom."_

_All went black, and Jazz found herself waking up, three hours later, on a hospital bed with a huge bandage around her head. She saw her mom crying in front of her. The events of the pat few hours were distant, hazy… unfocused, but they suddenly became as clear as day when her mom spoke._

_"Jazz! There was a ghost. It- they say- Jack's there now, he's double checking, but-" She held up part of a white, ripped t-shirt. Danny's t-shirt._

_"They- they took him!" burst out her mom, collapsing in a flood of tears. Jazz just sat and stared, not wanting to believe it. But she had to believe._

Jazz clutched Bearburt tighter to her chest, breathing in his familiar, comforting smell. She felt more tears slide down her cheeks, but didn't brush them away. It was unlikely that anything could heal these old scars.

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So, how did you like it? I was hoping it would be longer, but the flashback took up so much room, and I figured it would be best just to let it end there. PLEASE give me ideas! Thank you for your great comments , but I would really like some constructive criticism and story ideas.

Do you think:

1) The story could have more suspense/action/fun?

2) I am a little late in introducing Jazz/Sam/Tucker/Maddie/Jack?

3) that there is anything that doesn't make that much sense?

4) there is anything else you would like to comment on, or give ideas for?

Thank You! Please answer the questions! Nyita7


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